Ann Arbor Public Schools discussing parent-proposed cellphone policy
Ann Arbor Public Schools board members are discussing how to address students using cellphones in schools.
This comes as more than 700 parents signed a petition encouraging the district to adopt a "bell-to-bell" policy.
Ann Arbor Public Schools doesn't have a district-wide cellphone policy; instead, each school has its own. The high schools don't allow cell phone usage during class, but some parents are hoping to implement a policy that lasts all day.
"Our charge has been determining what is most effective so we can have a very accurate assessment of what would be the best consistent district-wide policy across buildings," said Ann Arbor Public Schools Superintendent Jazz Parks.
The policy would allow Ann Arbor schools to use cellphone pouches that lock at the beginning of the day and unlock at the end, allowing students to have their phones but restricting their use.
A similar policy was implemented at Novi Middle School.
"Our staff are commenting on how much more time they have with the students when they're not distracted, and for our students, it's kind of the gift of being able to be present. That's cut down a lot of the incidences of bullying, online cyberbullying that happens on social media," said Novi Community Schools Superintendent Benjamin Mainka.
The proposal claims to improve students' academic, emotional, and physical well-being; however, board members have questions about how it would be executed.
"How is this going to be implemented? Should we allow a 6-year-old to have use of a phone like we would have a 16-year-old, if at all? It needs to be age-appropriate. I also think we should talk about consequences," said board member Susan Baskett.
There's also the question about costs.
"That would come from general fund dollars, and we don't have a large surplus of general fund dollars right now," said AAPS Governance Committee Chair Torchio Feaster.
While parents are pressing the board to take action, both sides say they don't want to rush this policy. The committee says it will take a couple of months to do its own research with the hopes of avoiding implementing a policy in the middle of the year.